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5 CommentsCharles Davis, Executive Director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition spoke to the DelCOG group on Thursday and delivered a very interesting talk about the state of FOIA activity in the US and the increasing push by governments at all levels in the US to try to build a wall around their actions and deliberations.
The good news, according to Davis, is that interest in government transparency is very high — largely an unintended gift of George W Bush. People for all parties are clear about the need to have the government operate in the open, given the insistence on (and the consequences of) the obsessive secrecy of BushCo. This is a real advantage for Open Government partisans — it is much easier to change the conversation towards greater openness, since now everyone knows exactly what you are trying to accomplish. Interestingly, he noted Texas as being a famous Open Government state and John Cornyn (!) as being a pretty good friend of Open Government as well as Shield Law efforts. The Texas politics that he came up in rewarded politicians who actively supported Open Government issues. Go figure.
The big issues for Open Government (besides the fact that we don’t really have it — yet! — here in Delaware):
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1 CommentFrom my email, notice of a DelCOG meeting next week — Thursday, 5 February, to be exact. They do want you to try to RSVP so they can have enough seats. Let us know if you are planning to go….
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You are cordially invited:
THE DELAWARE COALITION FOR OPEN GOVERNMENT PRESENTS
Freedom of Information: A National Perspective
Speaker: Charles Davis, NFOIC Executive Director
University of Delaware’s Goodstay Center
2600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Wilmington, Delaware
Thursday, February 5, 2009
6:30 p.m. – social gathering / light refreshments
7 p.m. – program
FREE and open to the public
Scroll down for directions to the Goodstay Center.
Charles Davis, the National Freedom of Information Coalition Executive Director, will take an in-depth look at why freedom of the press, guaranteed by the First Amendment, and the unrestricted free flow of information — both cornerstones of democracy — are under attack. Freedom of Information laws have been weakened, reporters are being subpoenaed to reveal confidential sources and the business of the federal government is increasingly shrouded in secrecy.
